Beyond Post-Socialist Memory. Politics of the Past in Slovenia from the Cold War to the Present
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BEYOND POST-SOCIALIST MEMORY. POLITICS OF THE PAST IN SLOVENIA FROM THE COLD WAR TO THE PRESENT Borut Klabjan Introduction In World War II, Yugoslavia was not less bloody than other ‘bloodlands’ of Europe (Snyder 2010). Between April 1941, when it was attacked by the Axis forces, and summer 1945, it suffered approximately 1.1 million losses.1 In 1945, several parts of the country were in ruins, while its population underwent large-scale massacres by foreign invaders and as a result of extreme internal violence. Even if with their own specifics, post-war Yugoslavia and Slovenia shared common traits with other European countries and experienced the dynamics of the global Cold War politics of memory (Judt 2000). As in the rest of Europe, in Slovenia too the idea of a civil war was mostly denied, while the ‘Germans’ were considered the (only) responsible ones for the war, its sufferings and crimes (Judt 2002: 160). This was driven by the need to insist on the brotherhood of the Yugoslav peoples united in the building of socialism. Whilst on the one hand, the new ruling elites constructed the myth of the epic antifascist partisan struggle, on the other, the unpopular issues, such as post-war executions and collaboration with the occupiers, were often marginalised. Furthermore, celebrating the myth of the communist self-made liberation served to maintain the role of Yugoslavia in the Cold War geopolitical order. The myth confirmed the role of Yugoslavia as a winner in World War II and, after 1948, reinforced it with the image of the rebel against Stalin and the founder of a unique road to socialism. In internal politics this vision served to consolidate the political monopoly of the Communist Party. Resistance, heroism, fight, suffering, loss, victims, struggle, justice, victory were 1 This represented approximately 5.8% of the inhabitants. In comparison France suffered approximately 358,000 (0.85%), the Netherlands 248,000 (2.8%), Greece 620,000 (6%), Poland 6,000,000 (20%) and Soviet Union 20,300,000 (13%) of losses. Within Yugoslavia the highest numbers of victims were in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 328,000 (more than 10% of the population), Montenegro 37,000 (around 8%), Croatia 295,000 (more than 7%), Vojvodina 73,000 (more than 5%), Serbia 303,000 (more than 4%), Kosovo 24,000 (more than 3%) and Macedonia 24,000 (around 2%). In Slovenia, with 1,492,000 inhabitants in the war period, 94,000 losses represent 6.3% of the population (Borak & Fischer 2005: 790-791). Heroic Art and Socialist Realism: Monuments, Memory and Representations of the Socialist Past after 1989 the keywords that characterised the Yugoslav rhetoric of memory throughout the Cold War. Not less than in other Yugoslav republics, in socialist Slovenia too the ritualisation of partisan discourses produced a self-perception that Miranda Jakiša (2015: 17) termed active victimhood. The aim of this paper is not to provide a detailed description of the politics of memory in Slovenia from the demise of Yugoslavia to the present but to explore certain aspects of memory cultures that go beyond the Slovenian case and challenge explanations of neatly defined cultures of remembrance. In recent times many scholars have used comparative approaches and transnational examinations to show how national frameworks of memory are not self-sufficient and impermeable (Bauerkämper 2012; Pakier & Stråth 2010; Focardi 2013). It often happens that analyses of politics of memory are confined to predestined geopolitical boxes that perpetuate Cold War visions or focus exclusively on post-socialist countries. However, these methodological perspectives and structural attitudes suggest that states and their institutions are the only creators of memory politics in a top-down direction. Such a vision does not leave room for different forms of memory cultures. If we adopt a different approach focusing on vernacular rather than official memories produced by state institutions, we can ask whether memory cultures were diametrically opposed. Even if forms of suppressing divergent memories were often violent in Eastern 158 European countries, it would be misleading to think that in Western societies different memories peacefully coexisted in а mutual dialogue. As recent studies have shown, even if sometimes different historical events might be in the focus, the past is not less problematic in Portugal, Spain, France or in Italy than it is in post-socialist Yugoslavia (Loff, Soutelo & Piedade: 2014; Wieviorka 2012; Aguilar Fernández 2002).2 Even if a more in-depth comparative examination of memory cultures across Europe should be done, research on commemorations of massacres in Rome (Fosse Ardeatine), Marzabotto and Sant’Anna di Stazzema in Italy or in Oradour-sur-Glane in France reveal not only differences but also commonalities with similar commemorations in Yugoslavia (Farmer 1999; Portelli 1999; Di Pasquale 2010; Pezzino 2012; Karge 2014). A closer look at local commemorative practices throughout Europe shows that those in socialist countries are probably less different from Western Europe than we might think. By presenting the case of Slovenia, I will argue that the politics of memory in post- socialist societies are not per se unique or different from those in (some) other parts of Western Europe. Moreover, if post-Cold War politics of memory in Slovenia are as they are, it is not only because of the country’s socialist past. They are framed in close interaction with politics of memory on different levels and directions, in 2 Cf. also the forum on violence and historiography in Spain in the Journal of Contemporary History 2016, vol. 51 (2). Beyond Post-Socialist Memory. Politics of the Past in Slovenia from the Cold War to the Present primis with those of its neighbouring countries with whom Slovenes share a troubled past (especially Austria and Italy), and narrated “within the context of a European discursive universe” (Sierp 2014a: 2). In the first part of my paper, I will describe monumental representations of World War II in Slovenia, then I will provide a rough outline of the development of monumental debates and transformations in Slovenia after the fall of Yugoslavia, and finally I will focus on the border area between Slovenia and Italy in order to demonstrate that the borders of memory cultures are blurred and the perceptions of World War II in the East and in the West of Europe share differences as well as commonalities. Building Partisan Victory The figures that more than others embodied the feelings of victory were the partisan fighters, which could be found all over Slovenia and Yugoslavia. Not only collaborationists but also refugees, prisoners, concentration camp survivors, and most of those who did not fit in the picture of a heroic partisan epic were mostly neglected by the official post-war rhetoric. On the contrary, partisan fight was glorified and gained mythical traits. From school textbooks to monuments, from poetry and 159 literature to films and music, the partisan narrative homogenised the discourse of public memory and canalised the representations of the past. The construction of this collective remembrance was functional to the new authorities both in strengthening the unity of the country and in legitimating the leadership of Josip Broz Tito. As stated by Kirn, “partisan struggle became a starting event of socialist Yugoslavia, but at the same time it was the official ideology that sustained communist power” (Kirn 2012: 270). However, its message was more nuanced and could not be reduced only to the function of state service. A closer look at memory engagement shows multiple practices in the commemoration of the war. Commemorations began as soon as the war was over and the construction of monuments and memorials was often a grassroots initiative of local communities rather than being only a party imposition (Klabjan 2017). Soon after the war, former partisans and their families organised mass services and constructed memorials for fallen comrades and local victims of Nazi and Fascist violence. The projects were mainly self-directed and were carried out on voluntary basis. Funds for the monuments were raised by collecting money door to door; the collected sum then being usually employed for the purchase of building materials. Other works (carving, etc.) were carried out by volunteers and artisans, who were often themselves former partisans or their sympathisers. Due to the limited financial resources, these memorials usually Heroic Art and Socialist Realism: Monuments, Memory and Representations of the Socialist Past after 1989 consist of large slabs of stone (even if sometimes local marble could be found), on which, in most cases, stands a red star, the symbol worn by the partisan army, and an inscription commemorating the fallen combatants (e.g. “Honour to the fallen partisans,” etc.). In many cases, the names of the fallen partisans and murdered hostages were engraved in the monuments. They were placed in local cemeteries and in the middle of villages, but also at locations where victims and combatants died: battle sites of the Resistance, the places of atrocities against civilians, and at the spots where people were shot down. Not different from the French monuments aux morts of the Great War, memorials of World War II in Slovenia have become as a common feature in the typical landscape as the village church (Farmer 1999: 6). After this initial unregulated wave of statue mania, the Federation of Associations of Combatants of Slovenian National Liberation Army (Zveza združenj borcev narodnoosvobodilne vojske Slovenije, hereinafter: ZZB NOV) took over the construction of monuments (Silič-Nemec 1982: 21-25). It was the ZZB NOV, after its foundation in July 1948, which was in charge of commemorative initiatives in Slovenia (and elsewhere in Yugoslavia). Even if the inclusion of former combatants in the Federation proceeded slowly and it was less numerous than the central committee expected, the Slovenian leadership reported to Belgrade that Slovenes showed “huge interest” in the construction, restoration and maintenance of monuments and memorial plaques.3 160 Thus, in 1961, Slovenia had the highest number of memorials in Yugoslavia: 4035 (Bergholz 2006: 79-80).